Safety appliance.



M. A. JONES.

SAFETY APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED 0m. 28. 1914.

1,156,082. Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

COLUMBIA PLANDORAPH co.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

M. A. JONES. I

SAFETY APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED on. 28. 1914.

1,156,082. Patented I Oct. 12, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'M. A. JONES.

SAFETY APPLl-ANCE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-28,1914.

, 1,156,082. Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO-.WASHXNOTON. u. c.

MARTIN A. JONES, OF MoG-REGOR, TEXAS.

SAFETY APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. 12, 1915.

Application filed October 28, 1914. Serial No. 869,112.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN A. JONES, a citizen of the United States, residing at McGregor, in the county of McLennan and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Appliances, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safety appliances and has for its primary object the provision of means whereby when a railroad car encounters a broken rail or leaves the track or meets an obstruction on the track an emergency application of the air brakes will be effected and the movement of the car arrested.

The invention also has for its object the provision of means which may be readily applied to any car truck or to a locomotive and so arranged as to be inactive during normal conditions, but become active under an abnormal condition so that the train pipe will be exhausted and the brakes applied.

The invention also seeks to provide a mechanism for the stated purpose which will be simple and inexpensive in construction and efiicient in operation.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and'will be hereinafter fully described, the novel features being subsequently particularly pointed out in the claims following the description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation showing one application of my invention to a car truck. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view showing a different application of the invention. Fig. 4 is an elevation of a portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view showing the application of the invention to a locomotive. Fig. 6 is a plan view of another method of applying the invention. Fig. 7 is a detail View showing the operating parts in perspective and detached but in their proper relative positions. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of one of the shoes. Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view of the lower end of the main operating arm or lever.

In carrying out my invention, I employ a main supporting bar'l which, in Fig. 1, is illustrated as secured to the lower arched bar 2 of a car truck by clips 3 passing around the lower portion of the said bar and the main supporting bar. The main supporting bar 1 is duplicated, that is to say, one of these bars is provided at each side of the truck and each bar has its ends projected beyond the adjacent wheels. Tothe projecting ends of the main supporting bars, I secure the arcuate guides or restraining bars or plates 4 and at the center of the are described by said bars, I pivotally attach to the main supporting bars, levers or operating arms 5. These leversor operating arms extend upwardly between and project above the parallel arcuate guides 4 and the upper ends of the levers or operating arms are bent inwardly, as shown at 6, and terminate in balls 7. The parallel coiiperating guides 4 should frictionally engage the levers or operating arms 5 and this friction may be regulated by means of bolts 8 inserted through the guides for holding them in spaced relation as will be readily understood. One of the guides is provided at its highest point with a slight projection 9 which is adapted to engage a seat 10 in the adjacent operating arm or lever so that normally the said lever or arm will be held in an upright position, as shown in Fig. 1. The ball 7 at the inner end of the inwardly extending arm 6 engages in a socket 11 at one end of a link or connecting rod 12, the opposite end of said link or connecting rod being connected with the lever or arm 13 extending from a valve 14 in a pipe 15 leading laterally from and communicating with the train pipe 16. If so desired, the valve 14 may be mounted directly in the train pipe but I prefer to provide the branches 15 as the valve is thereby brought closer to the operating parts. A brace or strap 17 is secured to the main supporting bar 1 and to some fixed part of the truck above the journal box so as to support the bar and prevent bending or breaking of the same under the strain imparted thereto in the operation of the device. The lower end of the lever or operating arm 5 is disposed just above the tread of the track rails 18 and a pair of shoes 19 are carried by the said lower end of the lever. By referring more particularly to Figs. 7 and 8, it will be noted that the shoes 19,fit around the lower end of the lever and project respectively forwardly and rearwardly therefrom at their lower extremities. Through the lower inner corners of the shoes are inserted bolts 20 which engage notches 21 in the lower ends of the levers and in the inner edges of the shoes, near the upper ends thereof, are'notches or open ended slots 22 which are engaged by bolts 23 inserted through the lever. As shown most clearly by dotted lines in Fig. 8, the bolts 23 are of such diameter as to fit snugly in the notches 22 and frictionally engage the walls of the same so as to normally hold the shoes to the lever, the bolts 20 and 23 acting somewhat like the aws of a clamp to secure the shoes.

it is thought tne operation of the apparatus will be readily understood. By referring to Fig. 2, it will be noted that valves 1 1 and the parts for operating the same are provided adjacent each end of the truck so that whether the car is traveling in one or the other direction the needed application of the brake may be had. Should the shoes 19 encounter an obstruction on the track or a broken rail or the truck should leave the track the operating arm or lever 5 will be swung about its pivotal connection with the main supporting bar and will thereby be cause; to exert a pull upon the link or connecting rod 1.2 which will actuate the valve arm 13 and thereby instantly open the valve 14:. Then the valve 1 is opened the train pipe 16 will be exhausted and the brakes will be at once applied. When a shoe 19 strikes an obstruction, the frictional engagement of the bolt 23 in the notches 22 will be overcome and the shoe will be swung away from said bolt and the lever about the bolt 20 as a center and, inasmuch as the bolt 20 simply rests in the notch in the lower end of the lever and is not embedded in the lever, the shoe will then drop from the lever without either part being bent or otherwise damaged.

in Fig. 2 the appliance is illustrated as having operating valves at the ends of the truck, and each valve is operated by only one lever. In Fig. 3, I have shown the mechanism arranged between the wheels of a truck so that both inwardly extending arms 6 at the same side of the truck are connected by links 24: with the lever 25 upon a valve 26 mounted in a branch 27 disposed between the wheels of the truck. This arrangement reduces the number of valves necessary for the complete installation of the apparatus and is, therefore, less expensive than the form previously described. The operation. however, is the same in all respects.

In ig. 1 I have illustrated the appliance as secured to a form of truck commonly used on passenger cars, whereas in Fig. 4 I have illustrated the apparatus as applied to the truck of a freight car. In this last arrangement the main supporting bar 28 is secured to the lower bar 29 of the truck by the same bolts that secure the said bar to the axle hangers orsupports and the brace 30 extends from a point over the axle hangers to the said main supporting bar 28. The guide plates 31, the operating arm or lever 32 and the shoes 33 are constructed and arranged in all respects as in the arrangements previously described.

In Fig. 5, I have illustrated the manner of applying the apparatus to a locomotive. The train pipe 34 is extended forwardly under the boiler of the locomotive to a point beyond the front wheels and is there equipped with a valve 35 connected with the operating arm or lever 36 in the manner previously described and shown. The main supporting bar 37 and the guide plates 38 may be secured in any convenient manner to the pilot 39 or to any fixed part of the locomotive structure, as will be readily understood.

In Fig. 6, T have shown an arrangement whereby the main supporting bars L0 in stead of being secured to the trucks are bent or twisted so as to pass to the inner sides of the wheels and connected to the axles by bearings 41. The weight of the mechanism is thus transferred directly to the axles and not to some outside member of the truck and is to that extent protected against possible injury by contact with passing objects which would render it ino erative.

lily device is obviously simple in the construction and arrangement of its parts and may be readily applied to any railroad car now in use at a very slight cost. Tts operation is certain and eliicient and by its use an emergency application of the brakes is effected without any attention upon the part of the engineer or any other member of the train crew so that the car will be automaticallv stopped and not wrecked.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a main supporting bar, a pair of arcuate plates secured upon the said bar, a lever pivoted to the said main supporting bar concentric with said plates and extending upwardly between the same, the said plates frictionally engaging the said lever and the upper end of the lever being extended inwardly above the said plates, a valve controlling the train pipe, and a link connecting the inner end of the said lever with the said valve.

2. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a main supporting bar, a lever pivoted upon the said bar, guide plates secured upon the said bar and rising therefrom concentric with the pivot of said lever and frictionally engaging the lever, means on the lever and one of said plates for normally holding the lever in an upright position, a valve controlling the train pipe, and connections between the lever and said valve.

3. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a main supportbar, a lever pivotally mounted upon the said bar, a valve controlling the train pipe, connections between said valve and the lever, and shoes detachably mounted upon the lower end of the lever.

4:. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of a main support ing bar, a lever pivoted thereon and provided with transverse notches in its lower end, a valve controlling the train pipe, connections between said valve and the lever, bolts inserted through the lever above the lower end thereof, and shoes carrying bolts adapted to seat in the notches in the lower ends of the lever and provided near their upper ends with notches adapted to frictionally engage the bolts in the lever.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARTIN A. JONES. [1,. s.] Witnesses:

C. P. SHAFFER, J. F. CAvrr'r.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

